Alternate Path
by GinsengS
Summary: Full Summary inside. AUish What if Orichimaru had met an 8 year old Sasuke who just witnessed the massacre of his entire clan, and then gave him an offer he couldn't refuse? WARNING may contain manga spoilers. Possible SasuSaku in later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of the characters I only own the ideas to this story, but since I am not receiving any compensation for writing this, on with the story.

**Summary:** AUish.What if Orichimaru had met an 8 year old Sasuke who just witnessed the massacre of his entire clan, and then gave him an offer he couldn't refuse? 8 years later Sasuke is the skilled apprentice of the Snake Sannin training and doing missions in order to gain the power he needs for revenge. No pairings yet, possible SasuSaku and others in later chapters. WARNING! May contain spoilers from the manga. Read and if you have a question, comment, concern or flame don't be afraid to drop it in the review box.

A/N: Naruto and the gang are all around the age of 16 in this fic. I know that puts the time line a little out-of-whack, but it works for me. Just a heads up.

"..." speaking

_'italics' thoughts_

* * *

Prologue 

"Good job Sasuke, you have made remarkable progress" a silver haired man says as the sun starts to set.

With sweat dripping from every pore on his body, 8 year old, Sasuke Uchiha thanks the man, "I'm exhausted Kakashi-sempai. That technique drains me of all my energy."

The man called Kakashi looks down at the kid and smiles behind his mask. "That is only natural. Few kids your age have enough chakra to even attempt anything like that technique, but you are able to the chidori after just one month of training. That is quite impressive."

flashback to one month prior

All his life, Sasuke has been neglected by his family in favor of his older brother Itachi. Unable to receive recognition from his own home he has had to look elsewhere. One day while Sasuke was training by himself, Kakashi happened to notice the younger son of Fugaku Uchiha training alone. Understanding the unfortunate situation Sasuke was born into, Kakashi offered to teach him a few tricks that might impress his family. The young kid, recognizing this man as the non-Uchiha who possesses the sharingan, readily accepts the Jounin's offer, and starts his training to learn Kakashi's own chidori attack.

end flashback

"Hey Sasuke, it's getting really late. You should probably start to head home. Make sure you keep practicing what I have taught you, and then your parents will have no choice but to accept your abilities."

As he starts to head home Sasuke turns to the person behind him and with a wave says, "Thanks for you help Kakashi". Now on his way home from the training grounds Sasuke starts to lose himself to his thoughts _'I can't wait to get home and show my parents what I can do. Maybe they will even start to treat me like they do Itachi.' _Little does he know that he will never have the chance to find out.

Upon reaching the Uchiha compound he is so immersed in his own thoughts that he doesn't realize the deafening quiet that surrounds him. As he walks down the street, however, he does begin to take notice of the lack of outdoor activity from that particular district of Konoha. _'I know I got back late, but this still seems a little...off.' _When he finally reaches the front door of his house he starts to feel something is truly amiss. Usually he would hear Itachi and his father discussing missions, Konoha politics, or even his mom working in the kitchen. Right now though, everything was eerily quiet.

He cautiously enters into the house only to find it completely dark. He would likely be wondering why it was so dark if it weren't for his acute hearing that had picked up a soft shifting from the next room.

Now somewhat frightened he continues onto the door, being ever so careful not to make any sound. Hesitating as he finally reaches the door, he summons up his courage to glance inside.

The door swings open and all he can do is stand in shock as he sees both his parents lieing on the floor, each in their own pool of blood. Completely unable to move he doesn't even notice the other person standing in the room until said main speaks, "Welcome home little brother."

"I-Itachi? What is wrong with mom and dad"

Itachi looks down to the younger Uchiha staring into his eyes when he says "Why don't I show you?".

* * *

_"Itachi stop this right now, what is wrong with you!" Fugaku bellows at his oldest son who has just finished killing another of the Uchiha clan._

_"I am perfectly fine, and don't worry. You and mother are next." As he says this Itachi thrust his sword into Fugaku's chest._

* * *

Sasuke opens his eyes with a scream and runs out of the house. He keeps running as fast as he can. He runs for what seems like hours until he finally runs into something hard and falls to the ground. After taking a moment to recompose himself he looks up to the snake like man and shouts in between breaths "Itachi..h-he..killed them..mom and dad too! You have to help me!" 

"Hmm?...Itachi you say? As in Itachi Uchiha?" the snake man inquired.

"Yes! He is my brother, but he killed everyone!" The young boy

With an all too disturbing grin he replies, "Itachi killed the entire Uchiha clan, interesting. I guess that makes you one of the only living Uchiha left then doesn't it?"

"Y..Yes"

While speaking his next words the man is unable to remove the smile that is plastered to his face. "Then that must also make you an avenger does it not? Surely you must want to avenge your clan by killing the man responsible for all their deaths"?

Suddenly a new emotion, rage, fills up the young boy's entire being, and for the first time since finding his parents dead he speaks with confidence. "Yes, I have to avenge everyone. Itachi must pay."

Now mocking the boy in front of him, "Good, but how do you plan to do that? Itachi is very strong and has received advanced training for several years now. You aren't even in the same league as him".

"I...I don't know, but I will find a way" Sasuke says as he looks down and clenches his fist.

If possible the man's grin got even bigger and he licked his lips, "You know I suppose I could help you a little with your revenge if you really wanted. Let me introduce myself, my name is Orichimaru".

gasp "You're a wanted S-class criminal"!

"True, I also happen to be one of the legendary sannin. Think of what all I could teach you. All I ask in return is your loyalty to me." Seeing the young Uchiha look unsure he adds, "What is more important to you? Living out your life as another Konoha ninja...or fulfilling your duties as the avenger of your clan?"

That did it for the young Uchiha, he now knew what he had to do. "My only loyalties are with gaining the power I need to avenge my clan".

"Excellent decision"

And with that Sasuke follows Orichimaru knowing that his life has but one goal, and that is to defeat Uchiha Itachi.

Did you like it, hate it, indifferent?

* * *

A/N: Let me clear up a few things. 

1. Yes Sasuke was OOC, but this entire chapter takes place before and immediately after the massacre. So my justification is that he hasn't built up his cold personality yet.

2. The reason for the scene with Kakashi in the beginning was to justify the use of one of Sasuke's best attacks (chidori) and the variations he has come up with. For later chapters of course.

3. I know the Tsukiyomi technique used on Sasuke was really short, but I couldn't remember exactly how everything transpired. Besides, I think I can safely assume that nearly everyone who is taking their time to read a Naruto fanfiction has at least a vague understanding of the Uchiha massacre.

4. The reason Orichimaru was in Konoha is because he had a dinner date with the Hokage...ok so maybe not, but it was worth a try :P. Maybe you'll find out the reason later, but for now just know that it probably wasn't something good

5. I have a rough idea of how exactly I want this story to go, but I don't really have any kind of a conclusion set up yet. So, if there is anything you would like to see let me know and I'll take it into consideration.

6. I'm not real happy with the way the dialogue at the end turned out, but this is my first fic and just the prologue, so things should get better?

7. Could anyone please tell me how to say mom and dad in Japanese. I'm thinking that it is Otou-san and Oka-san, but I didn't want to put it into the story since I wasn't sure.


	2. Eight Years

**Disclaimer: **Don't own Naruto

A/N: Here we go Chapter 1. Since the Prologue didn't really offer much I started work on this chapter immediately after I finished the prologue.The italicized beginning is just a brief scene of what happens after the events in the prologue

"normal" spoken

_'italics' thoughts_

* * *

**Chapter 1** Eight Years 

It's late at night when a Leaf shinobi burst into the Hokage tower.

"L_ord Hokage_"_ said ninja blurts out._

_"What is it?"_" replied the tired old man known as the 3rd Hokage.

_" There were reports of a fight at the Uchiha compound so we sent anbu to investigate. It's terrible, the Uchiha clan...all of them...they're dead." The only ones unaccounted for are Itachi and his younger brother Sasuke. We have yet to find them in the pile of bodies", but we suspect Itachi to be behind the murder of everyone"_"

_Now fully awake the Hokage instructs everyone in the room to organize a search party to find the Uchiha brothers_

_short time skip_

"_So no one was able to find either of them?_"_" Asked the Third._

_Responding to his question one of the present anbu tells him, _"N_o sir", but we have found substantial evidence to suggest Itachi is the culprit. This also supports the theory that he was behind the death of Shishui Uchiha". I should also mention that Jounin Kakashi Hatake was with Sasuke Uchiha, and he wasn't sent home until after the time the murders would have occurred. We now presume Sasuke to be either kidnaped by his brother or more likely...dead"_

"_Very well, too much time has passed at this point. Call off the search, I will announce to the village the travesty that has occurred and will report the death of Sasuke Uchiha"_

* * *

8 years have passed since the day the Uchiha clan was massacred. Which means 8 years of solitude and 8 years of intense training for one Sasuke Uchiha. 8 years with Orichimaru has made the raven haired teen an elite shinobi. 

During his time away his appearance has changed quite a bit, now almost six feet tall, with a mature face and defined muscles. In fact, with the exception of his onyx eyes few probably would be able make the connection between this young man and the child that left Konoha all those years ago.

Those are just the physical changes, on the inside he no longer possesses the innocence of a small child. Seeing his brother kill his entire clan, leaving the only place he had ever called home and spending nearly all of his time with one such as Orichimaru had left it's mark. Sasuke was now cold and seemingly impassive in nearly all situations.

Now outside taking a short break after working on a new technique he has just developed,Sasuke is left to his own thoughts. _'How much longer am I going to have to wait. When will I be able to confront Itachi!'_This thought process continues only for a few minutes longer because he starts to hear someone calling his name.

"Sasuke-kun, Orichimaru-sama requests your presence in the main hall" a silver haired man known as Kabuto called out to Sasuke.

Not at all happy about being interrupted from his thoughts and angry Uchiha replies,"Kabuto what does the snake want now"?

With a slight frown the silver haired man tells Sasuke to be more respectful of Orichimaru, and that he'll have to go and find out for himself.

With an inaudible grunt an annoyed Sasuke proceeds to find out what the Snake sannin wants.

"You wanted to see me?" Sasuke spits out, voice filled with contempt.

"Yes. Sasuke-kun I have a new mission for you."

Now sighing Sasuke reluctantly asks what Orichimaru wants him to do.

"You are to go to the Land of Waves. There a bridge builder named Tazuna who is being targeted by a petty crime lord known as Gato. You are to protect Tazuna by joining up with a group of Leaf ninja that will be escorting him."

At that last comment Sasuke's eyebrow shoots up and realizing the curiosity of the teen before him Orichimaru continues with the details of the mission.

"Don't worry about them recognizing you, the Hokage announced your death shortly after you left, and I doubt anyone will be able to recognize the new you."

Seeming satisfied with that explanation the young Uchiha's face returns to one of indifference. He continues to listen as Orichimaru explains the rest of the mission. He tells him that he will take on the identity of a Sound village genin, and his primary objective is the assassination of Zabuza Momichi and confiscate the Kubikiri Hocho (Zabuza's sword). His secondary objective is to gain the trust of the Konoha escort so that it may later be used against them.

Now, turning to leave he is stopped once again by Orichimaru's voice. "Oh and Sasuke, you are not to show your true abilities to the Konoha ninja". With a final nod Sasuke leaves to prepare himself for his new mission.

'_Why is he sending me to do this worthless mission. He's supposed to be helping me kill Itachi, not send me out as his errand boy, and on top of all that I'm supposed to protect those leaf ninja.' _sigh "I might as well get this over with.", and thus begins his mission to land of waves.

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei can you hear me!?" a blonde teen, wearing only orange, yells repeatedly to their sensei. 

"Naruto, how can he not hear you! We're almost to the Land of Waves and most of the leaf village can probably still hear you!" screamed an angry and almost deaf pink haired kunoichi at the loud blonde next to her.

Now cowering in fear from his teammate he quickly apologizes, "heh...sorry Sakura-chan. I just wanted to know are we were there yet". At this Sakura, their silver haired sensei, who has kept his nose buried into a certain orange book the entire trip, and the elder man they were escorting all sweat dropped.

The fourth and final member of the team, Hinata Hyuga, was silently worrying for the Naruto's well-being. Hinata was the shortest of the small group, she had lavender hair and solid white eyes. She was also the only member of the group who tried to comfort the obnoxiously loud blonde. "N..Naruto-kun d..don't w..worry we will be there s..soon".

No longer cowering Naruto starts yelling again, "Yea you're right Hina-chan.", and having the attention span of a two year old Naruto changes the subject to something much more dear to him, "Hey I wonder what kind of ramen they have in the land of waves".

At that their teacher and squad leader finally spoke up, "Naruto do you ever think about anything other than ramen?"

"No, not really why? Should I?

Sighing in defeat their sensei responds, "No Naruto, nothing at all".

The loud group continues on oblivious to the pair of eyes that is watching them.

* * *

Love it, like it, hate it? 

**A/N: **Ha, cliffy...well not really. Anyways I liked the bullet points I used for the prologue, so I'll be sticking with those for a while

- I am beginning to grow a new appreciation for people who are able to write chapters with 2 or more thousand words in them. I will still try and make future chapters longer though.

- How obvious was it that Hinata would take Sasuke's place on team 7? Honestly it was between her and Shikamaru, but I decided the Hyuga heir so that Naruto has at least one person nice to him on the team. Neji was also under consideration, but I figured I had screwed with the ages of everyone enough already.

- I hope everyone was a little more in character this time around.

- Should I cut back on the dialogue a little and add more character detail

- I'm not sure when the next chapter will be yet. I will probably start on it tomorrow, but I'm not sure when I will post it. I would like to get on a set schedule for updates. So if if I wait a few days to post Chapter 2 it will give me some time to get ahead in the story so I will never feel rushed to get a new chapter out. Let me know what you think

- Questions, comments, concerns, I accept all feedback


	3. First Fight and Meeting

**Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto**

A/N: As you may have noticed I didn't wait to post this chapter like I said I would. This is due in part to my own impatience, but also I'm hoping if I get a few more chapters out there I will be able to get some more feedback.

Alternate Path

Chapter 2 - First fight and meeting

_At that their teacher and squad leader finally spoke up, "Naruto do you ever think about anything other than ramen?"_

_"No, not really why? Should I?_

_Sighing in defeat their sensei responds, "No Naruto, nothing at all"._

_The loud group continues on oblivious to the pair of eyes that is watching them._

* * *

Kakashi once again looks up from his book sensing someone near them when several shuriken are suddenly shot from the nearby bushes. Kakashi dodges them with ease, but his students aren't as fast as him and end up with a few scratches.

Everyone then takes a defensive stance, around Tazuna, scanning their surroundingss, but they don't have to wait long for the next set of shuriken to come. Fortunately, this time everyone is able to block the attacks completely.

Since the element of surprise is gone the hidden man steps out from his hiding place. Now standing before team 7 (Kakashi's squad in case you didn't know) is a tall, black haired man, with a white mask covering the lower half of his face and carrying an overly large sword on his back. Said man speaks, "I am Zabuza Momichi, now you will all die".

* * *

_Well I should be getting close now, now much longer' _muses the dark haired teen as he nears his destination. As he recalls his last meeting with Orichimaru he thinks to himself, _'I still can't believe this sword is so important for me to bring back'_.

flashback

_With a malicious grin, Orichimaru explains the reasons for this mission to an unconvinced Sasuke, ""As you know Sasuke-kun, Itachi is a member of the Akutsi. So getting close to him will be very difficult by yourself. However, I have a certain subordinate who would be all too happy to assist you by defeating Itachi's partner, Kasumi. All he requires in return is a sword from one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."_

_With one eyebrow raised the youngest Uchiha asks, "Why the sudden interest in my revenge? All you ever did before was teach me a few techniques"._

_At this Orichimaru responds with a hiss, "You could say I have a vested interest in not allowing the Akutsi's ambitions to be realized". _

end flashback

* * *

Sensing several different chakras ahead he is broken away from his thoughts. Quickly he realizes that they are fighting, and so thinking it must be Zabuza and the group Leaf he sprints off in the direction his senses tell him to.

Reaching his destination he quickly hides himself to observe the situation. He sees two copies of the man known as Zabuza. One is fighting a group of three that seems to be around his age, and the other has encased a familiar looking ninja in a sphere of water.

The group of three consisted of a blonde wearing all too bright colors, a girl with solid white eyes (these two were facing the Zabuza double head on) and a pink haired girl in a defensive stance next to Tazuna. Seeing as Zabuza has the upper hand in this fight Sasuke decides to intervene _'Damn, I was hoping to just sit in the shadows for this mission.' _

Sasuke speeds away from his hiding spot, delivering a hard kick into Zabuza's midsection that instantly stops the man's mocking of the 'kids' in front of him as he stumbles back. "What the hell" is the only reaction from a stunned Zabuza.

Not one to give the enemy time to respond, Sasuke launches into another attack on the stunned assassin who only narrowly dodges a few kicks and punches from the teen. Finally beginning to recompose himself this Zabuza is able to knock Sasuke to the ground only to realize that was just a distraction. He turns around just in time to see his other self forced to break its hold on Kakashi in order to block the windmill shuriken (is that what it's called?) from taking off his right arm.

Deciding that he could find out who this new kid was after Zabuza had been dealt with, the now free Kakashi lifts his head band to reveal the sharingan and proceeds to attack Zabuza.

* * *

When the second Zabuza turns around, the one who wasn't holding Kakashi, Naruto and Hinata realize he has left himself open to attack. Naruto charges up his Rasengan and charges forward delivering the powerful jutsu into the back of the clone that makes it instantly dissappear with a "POP".

Seeing as Zabuza will soon be defeated, Sasuke decides act hurt from the counterattack he received and simply watches the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza. He watches as Zabuza performs a series of hand signs that are copied by the other ninja. It is then that he realizes why the man with silver hair looked familiar. _'That is Kakashi, the one who taught me the basics behind the chidori'. _With that he smirks to himself,_'Heh...the small ball of electricity I was able to hold for just a couple of seconds all those years ago is a far cry from what I can do with it now'._

Sasuke's thoughts are interrupted when, with one final jutsu, Zabuza is slammed into a nearby tree. Ready to go in for the kill Kakashi is stopped when several darts suddenly strike Zabuza's body.

Everyone looks up to see a masked ninja who explains that he is a hunter nin sent to kill and retrieve Zabuza's body. The masked ninja drops down from the tree he was standing on and starts to drag the assassin's body away.

As the group of ninja watch the pair head off into the distance they remember the teenager who is still on the ground holding his side. They turn and finally get their first good look at him. Their mental reactions are:

_'It's definitely weird that someone his age would be out here by himself, but who cares he is gorgeous!' Sakura_

_'He is so pale, and why is he out here and alone?' Hinata_

_'Heh, he looks like a teme to me.' Naruto_

_'That was some surprise attack kid. Still I can't believe you were effected so much by a simple counter attack' Kakashi_

"Hm...you know it is impolite to stair." remarked a slightly irritated Uchiha.

Kakashi is the first to speak, "Thanks for your help...er?"

"Sasuke" was all he replied.

"Right..well Sasuke thanks for your help, but why are you here?" inquired Kakashi.

Now reciting the excuse he was told to give, "I'm a genin from Sound. I was sent here because my village has a contract to kill a crime lord called Gato. I was told he had been targeting a bridge builder named Tazuna, so I hoped that by getting close to Tazuna I would be able to find Gato."

As he finished his little lie he noticed that Kakashi seemed to accept his story. "Very well. We are ninja from Konoha. I am Kakashi, that boy over there is Naruto, the girl next to him is Hinata, and the girl standing next to Tazuna is Sakura. Our mission is to protect Tazuna, and while our missions may not be exactly the same they are indirectly related we could benefit from each other's help. Your only lead is that Gato is targeting Tazuna right? So staying close to him would be a priority. You are welcome to tag along with us for a while if you would like."

Not at all convinced that Zabuza is dead, and still needing to complete another task to fulfill the mission requirements he decides to accept Kakashi's offer.

* * *

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read so far. Stick with me and I'm sure I'll get better. Now to clear some things up.

-Probably in a week or so though, I plan on going to a more set schedule. I'm thinking Tuesday/Friday updates, or maybe just on Fridays. Depends on school and work I guess.

-During the eight year time skip, Naruto and Sakura have trained with both Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively. Though perhaps not to the extent they have in the manga. Basically Naruto is about as powerful as he was when he confronted Sasuke at Orichimarus lair, and Sakura is a talented medical nin. They are both chunnin level in ability, just not in rank.

-I'm not exactly sure how strong Zabuza really is in the actual story but he did seem pretty weak compared to others with his title. So I made him strong enough to cause problems for Kakashi's squad.

-Kakashi's offer probably wasn't too realistic, but it served my purposes.

-From a writers stand point, I think this is my best chapter so far. I went back over the Prologue and chapter one and realized that some events weren't connected together very well, so I tried to improve my transitions in this chapter. I also tried to give more details about the characters and their actions. I know I still need to improve though.

-Only 1 review so far, but it helped a lot. Originally my only justification for sending Sasuke on this mission was to retrieve Zabuza's sword to give to Suigetsu. I now know that wasn't enough of a reason to justify the risk, so I have added another development that I hope will suffice. You all should find out within the next two chapters.

-I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully soon, but I want to get a rough outline of my next few chapters before I start writing the next one.


End file.
